One Step At A Time
by cowbell2011
Summary: If Arizona could just tackle her demons one tiny thing at a time, her life and her marriage will be alright...won't they?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my first attemt at a Grey's Anatomy fic. I hope you all like it. As always, these characters don't belong to me, I'm just playing with them etc etc etc**

* * *

'Come on Arizona...you can do this. Come _onnnnn_.'

Talking to herself wasn't something that Arizona usually did, but today she was making an exception. Today she was going to get from her bed onto the couch in their living room. It might have seemed like the most mundane thing to anybody else but to her, this would represent a significant improvement in her current situation. Not only was it the first time since the accident that Arizona _wanted_ to get out of bed, it was the first time that she felt she actually _could_.

The incident with Callie in the shower had shocked her into finally realising that they could no longer go on like this. Although she had not spoken a word to her wife in the two days since that had happened, deep down she knew it was the catalyst towards her getting her life on track. She was still angry with Callie, of that there was no doubt. She was angry at her for letting them take her leg. She was angry at her not having seen her in such an embarrassing condition. But most of all, she was angry at her for her continued efforts at helping her deal with the loss of her leg. This was a completely unreasonable attitude to hold. Arizona knew that. But yet she just could not stop herself from feeling that way. She didn't want to be a burden for her wife. She wanted to be able to look after herself without having to rely on Callie to do everything for her. And that was what had led her to where she was today. If she could just get to the couch by herself, maybe next time she could get to the toilet by herself, and that way her wife might not feel so sorry for her anymore and they could stop arguing.

Hovering off the edge of the bed right now, the blonde woman looked down at what remained of her left leg. She was wearing shorts today so it was in plain view. This was another small step in her road to recovery. Previously, the only time she had allowed her limb to be in plain view was when she was in the shower, but she was sick of having to pin all of her trousers up. It was creating holes and more often than not they fell down anyway. So today, shorts it was.

She looked longingly out the bedroom door to where she could just see the end of the couch in their living room. With one final grunt of effort she used her arms to push herself into a standing position. Once up, she wobbled a little before gaining her balance and staying standing.

'Yay, go me.'

The little words of encouragement she was giving herself helped to push her into completing her task. She knew that if Callie were here, she would have just picked her up and carried her there by now, or simply told her to use the wheelchair that was currently in the corner of the bedroom. But Arizona wanted to do this herself. If she could just get to the couch by herself without any help, it would give her the confidence she needed to do other things herself too. She hoped, anyway.

Taking a deep breath, she adjusted her crutches and made sure they felt right in her hands before placing them a few inches in front of her on the ground. Using all of her upper body strength she leaned on them carefully and hopped forward with her right foot. It felt like she might fall to start with, but she kept her balance and now found herself a foot closer to her goal.

'Only fifteen feet to go. And two hours until Callie gets home. That's doable.'

Another few slow and painful shifts forward and everything was still going okay. The door frame was now within reach and Arizona leant on it for support to rest her arms. She had never been to the gym or really worked out in her entire life, so her upper body strength wasn't really very good. This was something she was going to have to work on if she wanted to be able to use these crutches to get about.

'If only I had my heelies, I could just pull myself around everywhere.'

The mental image of her one legged self being pulled around on one heelie caused the blonde to laugh out loud, something which she stopped as soon as she realised she was doing it. When was the last time she had laughed? She couldn't remember exactly, but she knew it was before the accident. It was something she missed, but not nearly as much as she missed her wife laughing or smiling. Now, if she could just get to that couch...

With another deep breath Arizona pushed herself off the doorframe and continued her small steps towards her goal. By now she was sweating slightly and was beginning to get out of breath but she refused to stop again until she was there. She made the last few steps before letting the crutches fall to the floor as she grabbed the arm of the couch. A smile adorned her face but she wouldn't allow herself to celebrate yet, she still needed to get into a sitting position. Weighing up her options, she decided it would be easier if she simply swung her body round, and she landed with a thump on the couch, her good leg stuck out in front of her. For a minute Arizona took in her surroundings, making sure she wasn't about to fall off, or give herself a heart attack from the exertion. When it appeared everything was going to be alright, she let out a triumphant cry and punched the air in happiness. Now, all she had to do was wait for Callie to get home.

* * *

Callie sighed as she approached her apartment, key in hand. It had been a long day and she had lost more patients than she had saved. Normally she would have gone out for drinks after a day like that with the others but today she wanted to go straight home. Even though the likely outcome would be arguing with Arizona, she had promised her wife that she wouldn't leave her and going out and getting drunk while she lay in bed depressed would only make things worse. They still had yet to speak after the shower incident and Callie had left Sofia with a friend for the night and picked up some groceries on the way home, hoping the temptation of Arizona's favourite meal would be enough to at least get her wife to talk to her.

Opening the front door, she stopped dead when she saw Arizona sat on the couch watching TV.

'Hey. You're...out of bed.'

Callie didn't really know what else to say. The two of them hadn't had a civil conversation since the accident and most of the time the brunette was too scared to say anything for fear of upsetting her wife. It was for this reason that she was astounded when Arizona turned around with a small smile on her lips.

'I made it to the couch. By myself. Without falling.'

The blonde sounded so pleased with herself that it made Callie's heart swell. She knew better than to think everything was suddenly OK, but the fact that Arizona had gotten out of bed all by herself and done this...it was huge.

'I see that. You're a pro with those crutches now huh? Whatya watching?'

The question was so mundane considering the situation they currently found themselves in, but Callie knew not to push too much. Sure they needed to talk about everything that had happened between them since Arizona had lost her leg but for today, Callie was just happy that her wife had gotten out of bed and was watching TV.

'Old reruns of Friends. You uh...you wanna watch with me?'

The question caught Callie completely off guard and she felt a lump in her throat at the unexpected happiness. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she dropped the groceries in the kitchen and took up her usual spot on the couch next to her wife. A solitary tear rolled down her cheek as she felt Arizona cautiously take her hand in her own and squeeze lightly. They shared a look and a smile before both turning to watch the TV in a comfortable silence. Tomorrow they would talk about the issues that still remained between them. But today...today they would hold hands and watch TV like any other married couple.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, what a response to the first chapter! Thanks a lot to those who reviewed or added an alert. I do like to hear what you all have to say on this, good or bad, so if you have a spare minute please take the time to review :) Also, from this point onwards this fic will not fall in line with season 9. I want to make them right in my own time :)**

* * *

When Callie awoke she was in unfamiliar surroundings. Over the last few weeks she had gotten used to seeing her living room ceiling when she opened her eyes, so it was a surprise when she woke up to find herself in her own bedroom. As the last tendrils of sleep left her, the events of the previous evening came flooding back. Coming home from work to find Arizona on the couch watching TV. Arizona asking her to join her. Eating together for the first time in however long. It had been a lovely evening, and the pair of them had seemed to come to a silent understanding that they would put all their troubles aside just for one night. They had both needed it, of that she was sure. But now she didn't know how to act around her wife. There had been no intimacy last night apart from their holding hands. When the time had come to go to sleep, Arizona had insisted on making it back to bed herself, which Callie had allowed her to do despite hovering close by should she be needed. Once Arizona had been safely in bed with another triumphant smile on her face, Callie had made to leave the room back to the safety of the couch but had been called back by the blonde at the last moment. The sound of her wife asking her to share their bed once again had been music to Callie's ears and she had nodded eagerly. They had not touched at all at any point in the night, Callie too scared to frightened Arizona away, but the fact that they had slept in the same bed was a step forward in itself.

'What are you thinking?'

Callie was pulled from her inner thoughts by Arizona's question. So deep was she inside her own mind that she hadn't even noticed her wife was awake. She pulled her eyes away from the cracks in their ceiling and was met with questioning blue orbs. They no longer held the sparkle they used to before the accident, but they weren't as dark as they had been the previous day, and that was something.

'I was thinking...I liked sleeping in here last night.'

It was all she dared say, too afraid to bring up the subject any further in case Arizona built up her walls again so she threw the covers back and busied herself with getting ready for work. She was half way to the bathroom when a quiet voice stopped her dead.

'Me too.'

* * *

The day had started off so well for Callie, but had gotten progressively worse the minute she had stepped foot in the hospital. Both of her scheduled surgeries had been pushed back to later in the day due to emergencies so she would be staying a lot longer than she had anticipated tonight. This fact annoyed her no end, because she was just starting to make progress with Arizona and she didn't want her to think she was avoiding her by working late. Of course, the old Arizona would have understood, but this new Arizona...Callie was still getting to know her and her moods were unpredictable. It also hadn't helped her day that Karev was pestering her every second for information on how her wife was doing. His guilt seemed to be eating him up inside and she did feel bad for him, but the last thing she needed was a constant reminder of what had happened to her wife. Eventually she had snapped at him in the hall in front of some patients and he had left her alone since.

Now it was early afternoon, and with a couple of hours until her surgeries were due, she had taken refuge in her office to catch up on her paperwork. It was proof of just how bad a day she was having that Callie was choosing to do paperwork. Normally she _hated_ paperwork and avoided it at all costs. In fact, in the past it had been known for her to talk her wife into doing it for her in exchange for certain favours in the bedroom. It was much easier that way. Callie would lounge on the couch rubbing Arizona's feet and reciting the details of the case and her wife would write them up for her. Then the pair would go to bed and Callie would do whatever Arizona wanted her to. A smile graced Callie's lips as she thought back to those nights. It was a long time since they had done anything like that and she hoped it wouldn't be too much longer before it happened again. The ringing of her phone pulled her from her thoughts and for a moment she contemplated not answering it. If it was Arizona she would have rang her cell phone. The only people that rang her office phone were other doctors in the hospital. Deciding that if she didn't answer it whoever it was would only track her down here, she put her pen down with a sigh and snagged the receiver with her left hand.

'Torres. This better be important because I'm incredibly talented and busy.'

'_Dr Torres? This is Mike from the PT department. I'm just calling to make sure you and Dr Robbins were still coming tomorrow morning?'_

Callie sat up straight in her chair as she realised who was on the other end of the phone. With the events of the previous night at home, she had completely forgotten to mention to Arizona that she had made this appointment for her. Originally she had left it up to Arizona to organise her own physical therapy, but when it became obvious she wasn't going to do it, she had taken matters into her own hands and made the appointment herself.

'Uh yes...yes we'll be there. Thanks Mike.'

Putting the receiver back down, Callie drummed her pen nervously on her desk as she thought about how she was going to break this news to Arizona. She had four hours until her shift finished. That gave her plenty of time to think of something...didn't it?

* * *

The key turning in the door alerted Arizona to the arrival of her wife. She pushed herself up from her laying down position on the couch and peered over the back as Callie set her things down by the door and wandered into the kitchen with some groceries.

'Hey. How was your day?'

To begin with Callie didn't respond, and Arizona started to wonder if her spouse hadn't heard her question. She opened her mouth to repeat her question but Callie beat her to it.

'Brilliant. Fine. _Awesome_.'

The blonde woman felt the anger and darkness seeping back into her mind at her wife's sarcastic response but she pushed it back down as quickly as it had appeared. They had made progress the previous night, and although she had spent the day on the couch fighting with yet another home care nurse that Karev had sent round, she had managed to keep the depression at bay for most of the day. She didn't want to slip back down into it now by arguing with Callie so she scrutinised the dark haired woman closely to see if she could figure out for herself what the problem was. In watching the other woman, she noticed that although she had been in the kitchen for over five minutes now, she hadn't actually put away any of the groceries she had brought home. They were simply getting moved from one side of the kitchen to the other, over and over again. This caused Arizona to smile slightly. She knew exactly what was wrong with Callie.

'You're nervous about something. What is it?'

Callie froze, halfway through putting a bag of potatoes in the sink for the second time and looked at her wife with a startled expression.

'Wh-what? What makes you think that? No I'm not!'

Arizona didn't respond to that, simply patting the space next to her on the couch. Callie took the hint and left the groceries alone, slumping down on the couch and beginning to fidget immediately. Arizona took her hand gently in her own, and used her other to grasp Callie's chin and force her to look at her.

'I'm trying here Calliope, I really am. But I need you to try too. So...what happened today?'

Callie looked into deep blue eyes and felt immensely guilty. Arizona was right. For so long they had been fighting and now that they had finally made a breakthrough she was ruining it all by not talking. Despite her fear over how Arizona would react to the PT appointment, she took a deep breath and prepared to tell all.

'I uh...I made you. Us! I made us an appointment with the PT department tomorrow. I know you wanted to do it in your own time but I figured, hey! I'll come with you and if you don't like it then well, we'll just go somewhere else. Or not. Whatever you want.'

Callie dared not look at her wife for fear of seeing the same anger return to her eyes. The longer the silence stretched on between them the more agitated Callie became until finally she could take no more and tried to get up from the couch. She was stopped by a firm hand on her arm before she could go anywhere however and she braved a sideways glance in the blonde's direction. To her surprise, there was no anger in Arizona's eyes, just a slight apprehension.

'I'll do it. For you. I'll go.'


End file.
